The situation: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Mariners offense is lethargic in 2015; ranking in the bottom third in the majority of the important offensive categories. With another year of missing the playoffs (essentially) a foregone conclusion, Seattle will call up Marte and hope he can provide a glimmer of hope for 2016 and beyond.

Background: Marte was not a highly touted international signee; joining the Mariners in August of 2010 without much fanfare. After a pair of mediocre seasons in the Dominican Summer and Northwest Leagues, Marte took a major step forward in 2013 – hitting .295 at three different levels – and followed it up with a .304/.335/.411 season with Double-A Jackson and Triple-A Tacoma in 2014. Despite a broken left thumb, he’s continued that progression in 2015, ranking in the top 10 of the Pacific Coast League in batting average (.314) and stolen bases (20).

The rest of this article is restricted to Baseball Prospectus Subscribers.

Not a subscriber?

Click here for more information on Baseball Prospectus subscriptions or use the buttons to the right to subscribe and get access to the best baseball content on the web.

A trade deadline that promises Baltimore fireworks, a Pirate lacks plunder, and the shine fades from an ace

Trades will steal the headlines today and the flurry of activity means that some everyday players will be in transit between ballclubs rather than on the field, so be sure to double-check lineups as they get close to lock.

Helping you set your fantasy rotation for next week with a look at the two-start pitchers.

For the first time in what feels like a very, very long time the upper hand is on the American League’s foot this week. Despite 22 options to the junior circuit’s 19, the picture is far murkier for NL-only managers this week, as a full 16 of those options are at-best guys to consider. By contract more than half of the AL pool is either a straight “start” recommendation or very close to it. This schedule still remains very much subject to change depending on what trades may or may not happen over the rest of the day. It’s worth noting that none of the most prominently discussed potential trade pieces are lined up next week, though any of these two-start options could end up as collateral damage if a rotation gets shuffled to accommodate a deal.

As far as the nuts and bolts guidelines for what lies within, the pitchers will be split by league and then by categories:

Much of prospect writing is based on buzzworthy names, but player evaluation runs deeper than rankings.

Evaluating in the public realm can often turn into a big-game hunting event, with a prominent portion of the coverage directed towards the eventual major league talent. This happens because the big names draw the largest crowd, so it's not an uncommon strategy to target those players that will garner the most buzz. Player evaluation is not so cut-and-dry, however. Over the course of the season, scouts and evaluators watch hundreds of players and are grading more than just the next mid-rotation starter or potential first-division shortstop. Most of the players we lay eyes on are simply minor league filler. This series is meant to take a more detailed look at the process of evaluating talent, and hopefully provide a greater understanding of what a minor league roster really looks like.

To that end, I took in a weekend series between the Aberdeen Ironbirds and the Williamsport Crosscutters. Below are the fruits of that labor, with notes on every player, no matter the name value or quality. Following the tables are five full writeups on particular standouts.